


Cultural Differences in Dating

by Silent Protagonist (CichyProtagonista)



Series: Breaking the Laws [1]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: (I mean they did but well), 1960s, Alien Cultural Differences, Concerts, Conflict Resolution, Daydreaming, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Doctor is hopelessly smitten, F/M, Fluff and Angst, French Kissing, Gallifreyan Culture (Doctor Who), Jealous Doctor (Doctor Who), Kissing, Liverpool, Love Confessions, One Shot, POV The Doctor (Doctor Who), Post-Episode: s02e05-06 Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel, References to Poetry, References to the Beatles, Romance, Romantic Fluff, The Doctor Loves Rose Tyler, The Laws of Time, Time Lord Angst, Time Travel, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-05-15 07:17:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19290877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CichyProtagonista/pseuds/Silent%20Protagonist
Summary: After their (mis)adventures in the parallel universe, the Doctor takes Rose to the Beatles' concert to cheer her up. They even don't run into any trouble, but still, not everything goes according to Doctor's plans and it's because of Rose...“He probably made a mistake when he spaced out like that. (...) Maybe he should have stated they were going on a date instead of “I haven't seen them live in four hundred years! And by the way you could get Paul's autograph for your mum, you said she'd like that!”.”





	Cultural Differences in Dating

“That’s just brilliant,” the Doctor murmured to himself. He couldn’t stand looking at that but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the painful view either.

Even when he was trying hard to impress Rose, it seemed to fail. After that unfortunate adventure in the parallel universe, where Mickey decided to stay, Doctor wanted to take his friend for a nice holiday. Let her take a breath and remind her that travelling through time and space sometimes could be trouble-less — and still fun.

He was doing his best this time. Went to the place in advance to buy tickets, not relying just on the psychic paper to get them in — there were high chances it would be too crowded even to hold everyone with an entrance fee. He also made small hearing aids, so Rose could hear the music over the screaming fans. He checked that on this date no previous incarnation of him nor any other aliens were in town.  _Molto bene_ , he thought to himself, when he made sure they arrived exactly where and when he wanted. April 12, 1963, Liverpool, right behind St. John’s Gardens. Just in time to get a chip butty, a local speciality, and then go to the concert.

Rose was looking lovely in a sunshine yellow pleated dress with a matching jacket and Mary Jane shoes, her hair back-combed half-up Brigitte Bardot style.

“I think it would look better with a denim jacket,” she said looking critically at herself, when she walked out of the wardrobe room.

“Do you want to cause a scandal, Rose? They wouldn't let us in if you were wearing denim! It's a sophisticated place, I actually need to wear a suit. Also, why are you not wearing tights?” Doctor pointed expectantly at her bare legs.

“So you wearing trainers to a sophisticated club is alright and I need to be wearing tights in the sixties?” She crossed her arms sceptically.

“It's 1963! London isn't swinging yet. But who's gonna look at my shoes? They will notice if your tights aren't matching though.” He ushered her back to the wardrobe.

“Matching? No way, that's too much yellow!”

“You can wear white, if you prefer.”

“White tights are for nurses only!” Rose objected from down the stairs. Finally, she came back wearing skin-coloured tights and a raspberry pink lipstick, as if in a protest against wearing more of bold colour. That was a fine protest by Doctor, as he secretly really liked when she was wearing it. He wondered if it tasted like raspberries, too.

Out of the TARDIS, they got their lunch and Rose was making sinful noises over her sandwich (Doctor made sure to memorise them for future reference), and then they managed to get inside The Cavern Club without a problem, so everything was going great.

“Did I tell you I jammed with the Beatles back in Hamburg, before they got big?” he asked nonchalantly, as they were waiting for the show to start.

“Oh, of course you did. Please tell me how you became the fifth Beatle.” Rose smiled at him playfully.

“I pretty much was, at some point! Even had a matching haircut!”

“Right, you are so impressive.” She glanced at him but couldn't stop her head from spinning around. “I can't believe I'm seeing this —  _in_ _colour_!” She couldn’t saturate her eyes witnessing early days of beatlemania and mod fashion in colours of the rainbow. Everyone in The Cavern was waiting to see Fab Four and even if only a dozen of fans were actually experiencing mania, their emotions spread over the whole local quickly, creating peculiar tension in the crowd. When Rose felt it, she asked Doctor if it wasn’t some alien threat but he told her it was only a low level telepathic field, nothing out of place in that context.

Doctor was bouncing on his feet with excitement — not only because of the music but also because he was there with Rose, observing her enchantment — something he was always looking forward to as he was piloting the TARDIS to new destinations, something he was imagining as he was pacing his workshop, thinking of new places to show her. He could never get enough of seeing the world through her eyes, drinking in her admiration. Sometimes he even let himself think she wasn't admiring only the new places but also  _him_ — Doctor was confident he was pretty impressive, especially when he intended to be and frankly, he did quite often since he met Rose Tyler. To be honest, he already did probably the most impressive thing he ever could for her — kissed the Time Vortex out of her and regenerated into a pretty boy, made just for Rose Tyler, with great hair, a good smile and nice bum, just how she liked (of course she never exclaimed any opinion about his rear out loud but Doctor knew she've been looking). Fortunately, Rose didn't remember being Bad Wolf, so he had a chance to woo her with something less extraordinary.

All the Doctor wanted was to tap his fingers on Rose's arms during  _Love Me Do_. Sway with her to the rhythm and harmonious vocals of  _Ticket to Ride_. Have a little dance when they were playing  _Roll Over Beethoven_. Catch her glance during  _Eight Days a Week_  and give her a smile that would let her know the song described exactly how he felt about her. And then to seal it, he'd clasp their hands together as the Beatles were playing  _I Want to Hold Your Hand_  — there probably was no better way to show Rose he loved her and decided to stop overthinking that she was a twenty-first century human who would be gone before he'd turn a thousand years old. Even if he could be with her for mere seconds of his lifespan, Rose Tyler was worth the pain that would come later. Doctor knew she loved him, too — after all, opening the heart of the TARDIS required a lot of determination. For every thing that Rose has done for him, every way she saved him, he needed to do his best to make her happy. For not letting herself be discouraged by him, for her comfort and friendship when he decided he deserved to be alone after the War, for showing compassion even to a Dalek, for creating a message through time and space to lead herself back to him. He was afraid to think who he would become if he didn't meet her.

He succeeded in those thirsts and they seemed to be working. There they were, Rose and him, standing together in the crowd of early fans of the Beatles, but though Doctor heard the music, heard it clearly thanks to his superior sense, all he paid attention to was his companion. Standing right behind her with his hands on her arms, there was technically no personal space between them. Doctor could see delight sparkling in her eyes every time she glanced at him. Could smell her vanilla lotion and candy floss perfume. When he brushed his finger over her neck, he could feel blood flowing through her arteries. Could hear her humming to songs she was familiar with. Could feel her bum brushing over his leg every time she moved a little. If he bent his head a bit, he could taste her warm skin... It was getting a tad difficult for him to stay sane, feeling so tempted to let his senses explore. By Omega's hand, if they were to be this physical more often, Rose Tyler would be the death of him. Oh, how other Time Lords would look at him if they knew how much impact this human girl had on him…

Ha, for the start, they'd put him on yet another trial, remarking “As The Law of Time I. B. 5. states, Time Lords are forbidden to fall in love or develop other strong affections for lesser species” at the top of the indictment. Doctor's jaw clenched when he thought about it. It was very wrong to ponder that but there were some pros to the current situation with his kind — at least they weren't there to say his love for Rose was wrong. Who were they to decide that? The majority of the Time Lords in Doctor's time treated their TARDIS as a spouse — he was very close with his ship too, they were together for over seven hundred years after all, and he used to think this connection was enough for him. Like a lot of other Time Lords’, his marriage was for political reasons, and before he properly learnt how to be a good father, he already became a grandfather. Soon after that he took his chance with life — stole an abandoned TARDIS, grabbed Susan's hand and started travelling. After so many years, Doctor didn't remember those times clearly, but he suspected that the doubts he had about his attachment to Rose were voices of his past selves, who loved humanity, but yet could not understand why he let this happen. Of course they wouldn't get it — they weren't a survivor, the last of the Time Lords. Before, he could come back to Gallifrey, even if he didn't want to. But he became homeless. The only presence he could feel through the telepathic link was his TARDIS. The only time he could hear Gallifreyan was when he opened one of the bottles he put  _The Encyclopedia Gallifreya_  into. After he would die for the last time, the only Matrix he could upload his mind into was the TARDIS’ Matrix, and she would die eventually (that was for the better, if he was to have such a lonely afterlife). And despite all that, Time Lords' rules were still holding him back. Despite the Law of Time I. B. 7. stating  “ _A Time Lord who destroys an entire species forfeits his remaining lives — and thus his title of Time Lord_ ”...

Doctor blinked when he felt Rose tugging at his arm, her expression concerned.

“You okay? You were so still I thought you kipped down,” she said into his ear. He must have looked a tad odd standing like a statue in the middle of  _You Make Me Dizzy Miss Lizzy_.

“Of course I didn't! Just focused my senses on the bass line. It's so smashing I really needed to concentrate to keep myself upright!” he crammed with a blasé tone. Rose gave him a smile like he succeeded in being witty, so Doctor smirked.

How he wished to be human. Then he could make Rose smile at him until the day he would die.

He probably made a mistake when he spaced out like that. He shouldn't have let her notice. Maybe she thought he wasn't interested after all. Maybe he should have stated they were going on a date instead of “I haven't seen them live in four hundred years! And by the way you could get Paul's autograph for your mum, you said she'd like that!”. Maybe he shouldn't have left Rose to let her ask Paul McCartney to sign a cassette tape from seventies. But he did, because his organism had restrictions after all, and he needed to go to the loo. And after he came back, he spotted Rose by the bar, getting a kiss from the Beatle.

It wasn't a snog. Just a little kiss, like some other girls were probably getting from McCartney too. In the same fashion he had seen Rose kiss Mickey and even Jack once, after a bet on a boozing. He looked at that with tight mouth and narrowed eyes. He thought his jealousy streak was over after regeneration but it seemed he just wasn't given a reason since he changed. Rose didn't meet any pretty boys lately and she decided to approach one when she could.

Maybe she was still upset about Mickey. If she wanted to snog someone, why didn't see snog him? Or asked him to snog her? He had no reason to object and many to urge — health and personal.

Were they not chummy enough tonight? Maybe he should have given in to the temptation of touching her more. Should've not just tap Rose's arms, rather stroke them, down to her elbows. He started to wonder if she was the type to shudder at a delicate touch on her arms and back while he would be standing behind her. Why did he not think about it, instead of acting like a ditz?

What did he do wrong? What stupid detail regarding humans' mating rituals he screwed up? He showered and brushed his teeth after breakfast (though he didn't need to worry about tooth decay), ironed his shirt, put on the brown tie with s-shaped motif that Rose liked, choose black trainers because they were cleaner than the cream ones and styled his hair neatly (she complimented him when he asked). Maybe it was about the smell, not enough pheromones. He should have changed it… But wasn’t smell supposed to be kept the same, to trigger memories and associations? Or maybe it was because he didn’t compliment her enough on her look; while she stayed in London she probably had heard some rude comments from despicable people and felt a bit down, though she would keep it to herself. Or perhaps he should have brought her flowers. Blimey, why wasn’t he born in a society that cared more about relationships?

Maybe he was wrong all along and Rose didn’t feel the same about him. Maybe it was just a fling, their flirting was just flirting… Come to think of it, after the reunion with Sarah and then landing on SS Madame de Pompadour, Rose could find reasons to let go of him. Blimey, and then he had his part in making Mickey leave. Could be that caused her to open her eyes and decide she shouldn’t waste her heart on him and she would be right. Even though he was born out of love for her, he still was a middle-aged alien with PTSD and duties to the universe. Just like everyone else, Rose would leave him one day. If she did because she’d find something better, then very well. He was willing to let her stay as long as she wanted. And to let her go eventually, even if it would make him miserable.

Doctor was still standing motionless, looking at Rose with another man, replaying the whole evening and everything related to that in his head. Why it had to be tonight, when he was so close — but still no cigar? Why it had to be McCartney, the one said to have a bit controversial sex interests? (Doctor was confident many humans would consider sharing a bed with three groupies at the same time while being engaged controversial, too, at least in the twentieth century.) Just in case, he should run some tests on Rose later to make sure she wouldn't get any STDs. Oh, bollocks, he really liked a lot of Paul's songs. He should probably move on to the ones written by George.

“You too, huh?” some young chap approached him. “Boy, I thought taking my girl to the Beatles concert is a great date idea. And here I see her snogging Ringo in the back alley.”

“Yeah, should have taken her to Disneyland instead,” he replied grimly.

Doctor stormed outside in urgent need of some cold, fresh air. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. He had to regain his composure before he would face Rose. Didn't want her to see him that vulnerable. He didn't own her, so he had got no right to rub his hurt in her face. He should have known better than to think Rose would choose him.

Doctor stood leaning against the club’s wall and meditating with his hearing sense turned off for a few minutes, until he caught Rose's smell. Blimey, he felt so not ready to talk to her — which he knew was stupid, she still was his friend. Yeah, he should cherish what she was offering him and not be greedy. He should try to be a friend Rose deserved.

“There you are! Blimey, 've been looking for you, Doctor!” She faced him like she was worried but trying to keep it light.

“Sorry, just needed some air. It was getting too hot, you know it doesn't work well for me.” He ruffled his hair.

“Do you want to go back home? We came to see the Beatles and we did, so how about a cuppa now?” She gave him a soft smile. Doctor glanced at her lips and noticed her lipstick didn’t look smeared at all. Did she reapply it to make sure he wouldn’t know what she did?

“Yep, sounds good,” he said nonchalantly and moved away from the building. He put his hands deep in his pockets, crushing an innocent banana with a teaspoon, and started walking toward St. John's Gardens with an indifferent facade, not sparing a glance at his friend. Doctor was glad they only had half a mile to go back to the TARDIS. After tea he was planning to create a diversion and bury himself under the floor of the control room to do some unnecessary tinkering, assuring Rose the repairs were urgent. He would take his time to pout while she was sleeping and hopefully the next day he would be a little better at repressing his feelings. “So, did you have fun?” he asked casually just to make a small talk, though he already suspected the answer. Fortunately, Rose wasn't the person who would brag about kissing someone and she didn't know he saw it, so they could act like it never happened.

“Yes.” She grinned, but it wasn't her saucy smile. “Honestly, I kinda didn't expect that. I mean, if I weren't there to see it, I would never believe people could go this mental on a concert, unless there were drugs or some alien pollen involved.”

“Never underestimate the power a few hundred people gathered in one place and focused on the same thing can have,” he said dryly. Normally he would elaborate, going into a lecture that would last until they reached the kitchen, but he definitely wasn't in the mood for that.

“Do you mean mass hysteria? Technically it was some type of mass hysteria, wasn't it?”

“Well, yeah. Even if most of you lot can't actively use telepathy on your own, unison of minds is still a thing. That's why the atmosphere is important. And can be dangerous sometimes.”

“And did you have fun tonight, Doctor?” Rose asked eyeing him.

“Me? ‘Course I did. Nothing like the Fab Four concert. Always a good idea for a nice trip. Well, unless it was in their early days, those weren't that good. John used to punch chaps for calling him names.”

Rose was looking at him like she was still unconvinced. Why, why did she want to make this casual conversation so hard for him? He didn't want to talk about tonight anymore. He made his diary of psychic paper to be able to re-experience fully every memory of Rose and now he was bitter he witnessed  _that_ and ruined an image of what was supposed to be a fun time with her, even if it didn't include moving forward. If he didn't, he could keep thinking they just needed some more of these, he would get better at dating and eventually they'd be together-together with no need to elaborate on that. After all, there was always something special, non platonic between them and after spending many months with Rose Tyler Doctor knew they have needed to let it grow naturally. He needed a bit more time than her to come to terms with it, especially after getting a reminder of human mortality from Sarah, but he accepted it eventually, was ready to take the next step. He liked what was between them because it was so natural, certain and good. It didn't need big words and grand gestures, not when they were running for their lives every other day, saving people and saving each other without hesitation. They didn't need to question if they cared about one another, because they wouldn't be where they were if they didn't. Doctor was sure he didn't need to announce he was taking Rose on a date because they were obviously dating since she told him “there’s me”. And eventually he'd kiss her just because it would be a right moment — though not during some life-threatening situation, he hoped. And it wouldn't be a big deal — no, no, take that back, kissing Rose Tyler properly would be a big deal, a huge one and he needed to perform it well. Maybe it was for better it didn't happen yet, he had time to do the research. Yeah, he would have a lot of time for that, because he wasn’t going to get over rejection too fast. He would still take Rose on dates and hold her hand, even if for her it was just friendship. Friendship with no kissing.  _Maybe if I kissed her well enough she'd fall for me_ , he thought. As a matter of fact, he was never much for kissing before, most of his bodies didn’t have a libido. He could deal with not kissing Rose Tyler, not being loved by her the same way, not being wanted by her the same way. After all, he used to be absolutely fine with loving her from afar.

But then he regenerated and couldn't hold himself back. He was slowly starting to regret that. He never mastered the skill of controlling the process of regeneration, it was always happening unexpectedly for him. As much as he was smug about his current incarnation, maybe it would be better if he could not change that day... Not like he had any choice. Though if he still was who he used to, he would not have these problems with Rose. He wouldn't feel the burning need to be closer to her, wouldn't have a running mouth that wanted to taste her in every possible way, wouldn't have these long fingers he wanted to intertwine with hers and explore every inch of her skin with, wouldn't find himself enjoying Jackie Tyler's tea and Shepherd's pie. Sometimes he thought Rose liked his previous self better. Maybe he wanted to become someone she'd like too hard and overdid it. Apparently he still wasn't good enough. He couldn't be perfect but the thought that he lost something about himself that Rose liked and he didn't even know what, hurt nonetheless. Maybe it would be better if he went away for three hundred years. When the memories of The Last Great Time War would become blurry, he could be what she wanted, perhaps. But he knew better than to pretend he could cope with his trauma alone, away from her. Damn, he was so hopeless.

“So, good. We both had a fun day. What we needed to bring the morale up, right?” Rose said slowly.

“If you kissed Paul McCartney to 'bring the morale up' then sure, I'm glad it worked,” Doctor barked before he thought.

Rose stopped walking and eyed him with intense. She didn’t seem surprised. “Doctor,” she paused. “Are... you jealous?”

“Me? Nope. Why would I be? You can go kiss whoever you like. That's none of my business.” He stood still, looking somewhere above her.

“Weren't you the one who said something about kissing strangers being a part of the travelling experience?” She crossed her arms.

“So is this why you kissed him?” he challenged. Blimey, why couldn't he stop his gob? This wasn't going to end well.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “What's the issue? Are you cross 'cause it will impress my mum more than you kissing Leonardo da Vinci?”

“I can get by without your mother's approval, thanks,” he said sourly.

“Then what is it, Doctor?” Rose gave him an irritated look. “I didn't say anything when you kissed Madame de Pompadour and now you're acting like I messed with time by kissing bloody Paul McCartney.”

“What?” he squeaked. “How do you know about that?” Great. That was definitely a reason for Rose to be cross with him. Oh, and maybe he went over the top when the jealousy bug bit her.

“Metal corridors carry the sound quite well,” she answered boldly.

Doctor ruffled his hair. “Rose,  _primo_ , I did not kiss her,  _she_ kissed me!  _Secundo_ , it meant nothing. It was the same as if you got kissed by Prince William. Wouldn't it be a cool story to tell? Nothing more.” He tugged at his ear, breathing unevenly.

“Yes, I know. That's why I said nothing about that. So why do you have a problem with me kissing someone?”

_Why_? Did he get something wrong and it was normal for twenty-first century humans to kiss a stranger during a date with a friend, or did Jack Harkness teach her that? Doctor took a deep breath and dared to look Rose in the eyes. It was time to face their issues.

“You see, my people weren't really doing... this.” He gestured vaguely.

“This?”

Was she pretending to give him a hard time or genuinely didn't know? Anyway, she was making him speak directly, if he wanted them to work out. And he did. “Dating.”

“So we're dating?” Rose gave him a stare as if she was challenging him.

“You used that word first, Rose Tyler!” he exclaimed defensively. “And I agreed, didn't I?”

“You did.” She nodded and a shadow of a smile flashed across her face, as if she remembered them laying in the apple grass out of New New York, talking about having chips on their first date.

“So, I assumed we had that established,” he cleared his throat. “Anyway, on Gallifrey we weren't really doing dating, so... I suppose I'm a tad rubbish at that,” he murmured, rubbing his neck. “But I thought I have got this today. I prepared, I was doing my best, I was sure everything was going great... But well, if you went and kissed another bloke because a spirit of adventure called you, then I guess I messed up somewhere. Or we’re not on the same page.” He looked away, trying to keep hurt away from his voice.

Rose stared at him for a long moment. “Oh, Doctor. You daft alien.”

He looked at her expectantly but she didn't continue. “Care to elaborate?” he prompted.

“We are on the same page,” she started. “But you need to learn that some things need to be said, especially when cultural differences can go in the way.” She looked at him softly, almost fondly. “I... Hoped tonight was meant to be a date. Though I think you still have no idea what you were doing to me, touching me like that in the crowd...” She bit her lip. Ha, so it was affecting Rose, too! “Gotta say, how you took my hand during the right song was quite telling.” She glanced at him with allure and Doctor couldn't stop himself from smiling like a goof. “Oh, shut up. But then you spaced out and got distant.” Her expression got serious. “I thought you're going hot and cold on me again.”

“I didn't mean that. Although I suspected you could have interpreted it like that.” His hand found a rubber duck in depth of his pocket and he started squeezing it nervously.

“So why did you act like that all of a sudden?”

He was afraid she'd ask. And he knew he couldn't brush it off if he didn't want to ruin everything.

“I was thinking about how Time Lords would despise me if they knew how I feel about you.”

“I guess they weren't fond of apes, huh?” She gave him a crooked smile.

“Not much,” he agreed. “But tell you what,” he paused and locked his eyes with hers. “If they were here, I would never come back home and keep my business away from them. Because I don't care what they'd think about what we have,” he confessed boldly.

Rose gasped. “Really?” she whispered, searching his face for reassurance she didn't over-interpret his words.

“Really.” He nodded and finally relaxed. They resolved their conflict and it wasn't that hard. There was even a way to still take the next step tonight.

A smile slowly grew on his friend's face. “And for the record, I didn't intend to kiss Paul. He was just excited when I told him my friend gave me this cassette tape that's much better quality and isn't mass-produced yet. He was delighted it was their record and said he can't wait to get those for himself.”

“That's a pretty impressive justification now, Rose Tyler,” he commended her with a playful expression.

“Learnt from the best, you know.” She gave him her tongue-touched grin.

“Did you?” He raised his eyebrow and stepped closer to her. “How about I'll do something impressive now, to make up for causing this misunderstanding?”

“Go ahead,” Rose dared, lifting her chin. That was finally the right moment.

They were still more than halfway to the TARDIS, standing next to some shop on a Liverpool street, in a dimmed light of a nearby street lamp.  Suddenly he remembered he didn't do the research but it didn't make him nervous. His very first kiss with Rose was done without any preparation and he thought it was fantastic, so why would it be worse now? And he did a lot of daydreaming about it, it must have counted for something.

He put his hands on her cheeks and seeing longing and anticipation in her eyes he knew he reflected, Doctor didn't wait any longer.

Their mouths met halfway and after a brief second they both gasped in relief. They were delaying it too long. Rose wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him closer. They kept moving their lips together softly, slowly and Doctor was experiencing Rose Tyler in a way he hasn't before and not only because he kept his eyes closed. He tasted her lipstick (it  _was_ raspberry flavoured!). Caressed the soft skin of her face and neck, feeling her blood flowing quicker due to adrenaline. Heard every quiet moan as it was forming in her vocal cords. And her vanilla-candy floss smell mixed with a wave of pheromones right in his nostrils made him light-headed. He couldn't picture stopping kissing Rose, at least not when she was kissing him back like her life depended on it and pulling at his hair. Oh, Rassilon’s Ghost, he was right she'd be the death of him — and he was hoping so.

Finally, they parted, panting heavily, but still kept hands on one another. They both were beaming at each other like idiots and Doctor's hearts skipped a beat when he saw Rose's eyes smiling literally, too. He didn't think he has ever seen it before in his lives.

“Hello,” she breathed, still grinning.

“Hello,” he answered, stroking Rose's cheek. His smile grew even more lunatic. “You know, I didn't expect I could get high on oxytocin and dopamine. You seem to always show me something new,” he chuckled.

“You're high on kissing hormones right now?” she giggled.

“It's all your fault, Rose Tyler.” Doctor looked at her lips, planning to pull her into another snog but noticed something. “How come your lipstick isn't smeared?”

“It's matte. Supposed to be long-lasting.”

“Wait.” Doctor frowned. “So you didn't reapply it? Did you just give me Paul McCartney's cooties?” He wrinkled his nose.

Rose burst out laughing.

“This isn't funny, Rose!”

“I didn't  _French_ kiss him, Doctor! No saliva, so probably no cooties,” she managed to say between giggles.

“Cooties are always there,” he grunted, still disturbed. “But, you know... kissing actually improves the immune system.”

“Are you trying to tell me you have... superior cooties?” Rose bit her lip, trying to suppress her laugh.

“Well, I didn't want to say that out loud but basically, yes,” Doctor answered nonchalantly. “You could use some stimuli to your immune system. You were sneezing for a whole week not so long ago, after all. As your doctor, that's my orders.” He gave her a meaningful wink that Rose answered with a saucy smile.

“Shall we go? Before I'll be tempted to pull you into another snog.”

Doctor smiled at her like he wouldn't mind it. “We shall. Though you know what's great? Even if the police arrested us for public indecency now, the TARDIS is actually in disguise here! So we could go and arrest ourselves in the police box, and they wouldn't know, Rose, so then we'd just vanish, and they'd never know what happened!”

She gave him a look like she was in a deep thought, which was pretty alluring when she was still so close, embracing his neck. “You know what? Sometimes I think you're not Time Lord. More like Crime Lord.” Rose burst out laughing so hard she needed to lean on him. Doctor wanted to pretend he felt resentful but he was laughing, too, and hugged her. He thought of verses from E. E. Cummings: “ _we are for each other: then / laugh, leaning back in my arms / for life’s not a paragraph_ ”. It seemed they both were high on the kissing hormones.

“I'd say we could go by Bonnie and Clyde now, but it doesn't fit too well. We don't intend to do crimes, at least. It's just the law getting in the way of the moral values sometimes.”

“If it wasn't getting in the way, we'd probably have got a lot less running to do. That would be boring.”

“Right? What would we do then? Go sightseeing like normal tourists?”

“No way. You know we would start getting in trouble on purpose. And I'm sure you're nagging when you don't get your dose of adrenaline,” she teased.

“Oi! I'm not!” Doctor protested but Rose was already laughing again. “You know, you can try kissing me when I'm unaware if you think I need that much adrenaline daily,” he offered casually.

“Alright but be careful what you wish for!” She gave him her saucy smile. He definitely didn't want to be careful.

Doctor offered his hand to Rose and she took it without hesitation. Oh, how right it felt to have her hand in his.

And he would intertwine their fingers together every day now. He was going to make his daydreams come true. Like waking Rose up by peppering her face with kisses (he hoped it would make her less moody when she didn't sleep enough for her liking). Or snogging her every time before they would go out of the TARDIS (they could never know if it would be safe outside to get lost in the moment, so they should do enough of it in advance). Or kissing her spontaneously every time she would do something brilliant (which she did every day). Or snuggle with her under a blanket in the library for the whole evening (having a book in one hand and embracing Rose with the other sounded very appealing). Later, he could even cuddle her when she was sleeping (he was confident his one hour of sleep would be better quality if he spent it by Rose's side). And one day they could have a bath together to relax after an exhausting adventure (it would be  _really_ nice to wash Rose's hair and let her wash his). Finally, they would  _dance_ (he had to do his research this time. He knew enough about anatomy but lacked the practice and it was a point of honour for him to satisfy Rose when the time would be due)... Maybe one day he could even tell her he loved her (in English this confession didn't hold as much meaning as in Gallifreyan but he still treated those words as intimate enough to only be given when one's ready to propose. It was too early for that, he didn't want to scare her away with the weight of his feelings).

They reached the TARDIS and Doctor opened the door for her. Rose stepped inside and placed her hands on his arms.

“So, no more kissing strangers, right?” she asked.

“No more,” he answered, kissing her firmly to show her he wasn't going to take any steps back any more. Only steps forward, with their hands clasped together.

Rose smiled at him fondly and her eyes were smiling, too, again. Oh, sweet mother of Chaos, he needed to note on his to-do list to make her smile like that more often. He answered her with a grin he was sure was showing how hopelessly smitten by her he was.

“So, to the Vortex, now!” Doctor rushed to the console and started jumping around it even more enthusiastically than usually. He needed to let out at least some of the energy that was flowing through him.

Soon they were sitting on the library sofa with tea, just like Doctor was imagining. Reality was definitely living up to his expectations, though he didn't think through that having Rose cuddled to his side and ruffling his hair would be that pleasant. He had to focus to not start purring (because Time Lords obviously did not purr). He stopped trying to read Nikola Tesla's biography and let himself revel in the caress instead.

“Enjoying yourself?” Rose asked with a smirk. Though he kept quiet, his facial expression must have betrayed him.

“Yes,” Doctor admitted because he didn't want her to stop even if he was to lose his dignity. “You should do that more often.” He closed his eyes and surrendered to the pleasure for a minute, but opened them again under the intensity of Rose's stare. “What?” he asked puzzled.

There was contemplation and a bit of worry in her eyes. “Nothing. It's just... I didn't expect that, you know?”

“That I have guts to kiss you?” He raised his eyebrow.

She chuckled. “I didn't expect you to make a move, after what happened recently.” She exhaled and the hand she was ruffling Doctor's hair with fell down to the backrest of the sofa. “Thought you don't want to get hurt later,” she whispered.

He turned around to face her. “Rose, I will hurt later anyway. It's too late to change anything that led us where we are now — and I'd never do that,” he assured. If he had to avoid falling for her, he'd have to never ask her to come with him. “If it's going to hurt later, that's only a reason to do everything to be happy now. I won’t back down, I've already done enough of that.” He rubbed the back of her neck to appease her. Then he remembered a verse from the poem he was remembering earlier. “‘ _And death i think is no parenthesis_ ’.”

“Yes?” Rose raised her eyebrow, waiting for him to explain.

Doctor smiled, because something clicked in his head. “That’s E. E. Cummings. I’ve been thinking about one of his poems today. The interpretation is, you can’t enjoy life fully if you over-analyse things. And even if life is short, that’s only a reason to take your chance with it while you can.”

“I’m glad you took your chance now.” Rose rewarded him with the tongue-touched smile and it reminded Doctor he hadn't felt this tongue against his yet. He wanted to change that.

“Yep,” he said simply, leaving his book and glasses behind to lean in for a kiss.

They didn't gasp in relief this time but the kiss also wasn't as tender as before. Their little moans were expressing insatiability, they both needed more and wanted to give more to one another. More touch, more contact; hands roaming across backs, arms, necks and faces. Lips were crushing against each other, breaths mingling, tongues sliding along delicately.  _Apparently being made for Rose Tyler includes being good at kissing her_ , Doctor thought, when Rose moaned huskily as he caressed her lip with his tongue. He would gladly continue, encourage her to suck the tip of his tongue again, but it was time to ease out. He could tell — and smell — she was aroused and he knew he should stop to not be a tease. Rose must have felt he wanted to end the kiss, because she decided to put the icing on the cake by sucking at his bottom lip and making him moan protractedly. She even giggled, self-satisfied.

“Rose Tyler, you minx,” Doctor breathed out, still dazed but felt smug, too, because she looked dazed as well, her breath uneven, lips well-kissed with only a faint trace of lipstick and hair messy. Their desire was quenched, at least for now.

“I believe we brought the morale up now,” she said with complacent in her voice, smoothing out the lapels of his jacket.

“Oh, yes, we did.” He pressed his tongue to his upper teeth. Blimey, did Rose really want more instantly? He gave her a nervous look, trying to let her know it was a tad overwhelming for him. She snorted.

“Blimey, Doctor. I thought we were supposed to 'bring the morale up' to go back to getting in trouble all across the space!” She shook her head with disapproval but chuckled.

“Ah! Of course!” he squeaked. “Well, you have to admit, we found a brilliant solution. I think we should use it as a prevention, too,” he said to make Rose laugh and succeeded. “So, you want to say you’re up for an adventure tomorrow?” He grinned with excitement.

“Yeah. I started missing that.”

“In this case, I won't let you yearn any longer. Tomorrow, Rose Tyler, we'll go somewhere splendid!”

“Where?” Her eyes shone with curiosity.

“You have to wait until tomorrow.” He wagged his eyebrows.

“Of course.” Rose gave him a side-eye. “Bet you don't have any idea yet.”

“Hey! I'll have you know, I’ve got a list of places to visit as long as my arm!” He straightened his limb to demonstrate.

“If you say so.” She smirked because she knew he wanted to impress her. “Just don't dare to wake me up before seven hours.”

“Yes, sir.” He smiled. “Seven hours and not a minute longer.”

“Doctor!”

“I told you we're going to a  _splendid_ place!” he exclaimed. “Just wait until you see it, Rose! You'll understand why I'm so eager.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Alright. Then I'd better get my sleep before your eagerness will get better of you.” She looked at him warmly, like every time she did when saying goodnight. But this time she laid her hands on his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss. Doctor gladly gave it to her, soft and tender. He decided he liked kisses like that — innocent but still made Rose smile at him in a way that made his hearts skip a beat and automatically pull her into a hug, which he just did. He sensed her smile into his arm and he kissed the side of her head, feeling a wave of warmness inside him. “Goodnight, Doctor.” She finally got up, not very willingly.

“Sleep tight, Rose,” he said with fondness, following her with his eyes to the door. It took some self-control to not ask her if he could stay in bed with her. He didn't want to be too clingy.

Doctor closed his eyes and sighed happily. He just had the best day  _ever_. A better one would be only if he was to marry her.

He got up from the sofa and went to the poetry shelf, taking a tome by E. E. Cummings. Not that he was ashamed to admit to Rose he could recite about half of his love poems to her — he just wanted to have some surprise for later. Even Time Lord with a TARDIS needed to try a bit to keep impressing his precious girl.

Oh, brilliant! He could call Rose his precious girl now.  _His_ Rose. His dear, his sweetheart, his darling, his beloved. He had so many words to choose from and he couldn't wait to experiment with them.

Doctor sat at the desk and started browsing through the book's pages.  _Somewhere I have never travelled_  and  _I carry your heart with me_  were obvious poems he could use to express his feelings for Rose, but he had a less famous one in mind, too.

“ _my love is building a building_

_around you,a frail slippery_

_house,a strong fragile house_

_..._

_my love is building a magic, a discrete_

_tower of magic and(as i guess)_

_when Farmer Death(whom fairies hate)shall_

_crumble the mouth-flower fleet_

_He’ll not my tower_ _,_ ”

Maybe he couldn't literally build a building to keep Rose away from harm but he had his ways. Not many things could get through the TARDIS shields. Aboard their ship they would be safe. Doctor wouldn't mind staying home a bit more often to snog and cuddle. As for the outside, he knew well enough she could take care of herself, even if she was jeopardy-friendly sometimes. He intended to keep the promise to himself to always do everything to protect Rose. And maybe he could not actually repulse “Farmer Death” but he was willing to, if there would be a way.

Doctor opened the drawer and took out his diary and fountain pen. He stroked the page made of psychic paper, glad he had a way to re-experience exactly how he felt when he finally kissed Rose Tyler. How her eyes were smiling at him. He enthusiastically tapped his fingers on the desk and started the entry, mentioning every important detail. He knew there would come a day when he would need to smell vanilla and candy floss again. On the next page, he wrote the Cummings' poem as a reminder for himself.

When he was done it's been only an hour since Rose went to bed. Doctor sighed and got up to make a cuppa. He had enough time to finish Tesla's biography, catch a ten-minute kip, change the thermal compound on the on-board computer, take a shower, build The Lego Tower of Orthanc and make tea for breakfast. Humans needed so much sleep.

He wasn't going to complain to Rose about it this time, though. Or maybe he was, to earn a nice kiss as “sorry”. Anyway, he was going to hover over her and kiss her good morning, then bribe her with a cuppa to get up. And after breakfast, he was going to take them to Barcelona — it was high time they visited the planet. He was sure Rose would love the dogs with no noses. He hoped she would be happy enough to warm his hearts with another smile that reached her eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first fic in the fandom and actually first I've ever written in English, so I'm double-nervous. Feel free to correct me on any mistakes.  
> I got the idea seeing on the TARDIS wiki that Doctor took both Martha and Donna to the Fab Four concert (in the comics), but not Rose! But now we know he did. I'm actually thinking about writing a follow-up or taking this one as a prequel to a bigger story, if I'll have a chance.  
> And, yes, I know it's _historically_ divergent! But sorry, I couldn't stop myself, I feel _Eight Days a Week_ is totally a TenRose song.  
> Please tell me how you like the story! And tell me what's your favourite Beatles' song!
> 
> Come to my [tumblr](https://chailattewithcardamom.tumblr.com/) and say hi!


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